Venezuela Says OPEC Aiming for $50 Oil By May Meeting
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http://www.laht.com/venz7/rafaelramirezmikes.jpgBy Miguel Angel Villalba
Latin American Herald Tribune staff
CARACAS -- According to the Venezuelan government, OPEC's goal is to get the price of oil up to at least $50 dollars a barrel by the end of May, when the organ will hold a new meeting to evaluate the market's behavior. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) decided on Sunday to maintain unchanged current oil output.
The goal isnt just to stop the tumble in oil prices but to recuperate them, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Sunday in his weekly television address. Weve halted the tumble in prices. They were on their way below $30.
Going into the meeting, Venezuela had been pushing for additional cuts of 1 million to 1.5 million barrels, but Venezuelan oil minister Rafael Ramirez was unsuccessful with getting a cut.
We are facing a serious economic crisis and we have to try to stabilize the market," Ramirez said after the meeting Sunday. "In Iran, it was decided a great cut on oil output and we are now trying to comply with 100 percent of that decision.
Ramirez explained that, currently, OPEC countries are complying with only 80% of the cuts so far agreed by the group, and that the remaining 20% represents almost one million barrels. For that reason, Ramirez explained that the group decided not to propose a new cut if the previous one has not been fully complied with.
OPEC hopes to get 100% compliance with the cuts decided last December, before making a decision about a new cut. The previous announced cuts of 4.2 million barrels a day have put a brake on the fall in oil prices, which have stabilized above OPECs $40 target. According to Ramirez, they hope to get them up to $50 by the next meeting in May in Vienna.
According to independent estimates, Venezuela was only complying with 50% of their share of the cuts, while Iran was only complying with 33% in February.
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